Marking machine



H. S. BRACKENI MARKING MACHINE.

FILED JAN. 23, 1922.

Jan.'2 3,1923.

Patented lain. 23, i923.

iaiaierl HORACE S. BRAGKEN, OF JOHNS'IOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR'OF ONE-HALF T0 J'OI-INfSON V. SYMON$, OF WESTMONT, PENNSYLVANIA.

MARKING MACHINE.

Application filed January 23, 1922. Serial No. 531,050.

To all who-m it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Homes BRACKEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city'of Johnstown, county of Gambria, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Marking Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a machine adapted to mark various materials as they are fed through it, although it is particularly adapted for marking billets, bars, beams, channels, plates or other rolled sections of metal as they issue from a rolling mill on the feed table or delivery table ordinarily provided for this purpose.

My invention in general consists of a plurality of rotatable marking wheels mounted on suitable pins or shafts, and the frame in' which they are carried is also rotatably mounted on another longer shaft and is adapted to be rotated thereon when desired, so that while one marking wheel is in operation the dies of the other wheel or wheels, containing the letters, numbers or other dis tinguishing marks may be changed to suit the following pieces to bemarked.

A concrete example of the operation of the apparatus would be in connection with marking billets as they come from a rolling mill, which are ordinarily distinguished by the heat or melt numbers, which are generally arranged serially in the/usual numerical order. As a rolling mill operates quickly, there is a continuous stream of billets issuing therefrom, and as the heat numbers have to be changed after the passage of a comparatively small number of billets to 'iroperly identify the successive ones, this cannot be done with a single marking wheel without stopping the operation of the mill, and I therefore provide a plurality of wheels, or two wheels, so that while one wheel is being used to mark the billets the marking dies can be changed in the other and idle wheel. I also provide means whereby the different wheels can be quickly brought into operation or removed therefrom to changethe dies.

The pressure necessary to indent the billets is provided by means of a spring or similar elastic action, in order to provide the necessary adjustment and maintain the pressure not-withstanding certain irregularities in the surface to be marked or inv the move ment thereof, as will hereinafter be more fully disclosed.

i-tl'though m y apparatus is adapted to mark any kind of material, I will, for the sake of simplicity of description and illustration, herein confine it to marking billets as they issue from a rolling mill, and these are preferably in a red hot condition, although they can also be marked when cold, if the. pressure of the dies is correspondingly increased. 7

Having thus given a general description of my invention, I willnow, in order to make the matter more clear, refer to the an nexed sheet of drawings, which form part of this specification, and in which like characters refer to like parts Figure 1 is a front elevation-of my improved marking machine with a portion of a roller feed table shown in dotted lines; Figure 2 is a side elevation of a marking wheel with a portion of its sidebro-ken away to more clearly show the construction of the same; Figure 3 is a front elevation of the marking wheel. shown in Figure 2 with a portion of the upper part cut away to more clearly show the construction. Figure 4- is a top plan view of the marking machine:

Figure 5 is a vertical transverse sectional elevation through a portion of the machine taken 011 the line V-V of Figure 4:; Figure (l is a side elevation of the marking machine; Figure 7 is a detail side elevation of the marking wheel holder, and ig re 8 is a detail side elevation of one of the crank arms.

Referring now to the characters of refer ence on the drawings :1 indicates one of the rollers of the roller feed table which carries the billets away from the rolling mill, and this feed table may be provided. with side guides, either continuous or at intervals, to maintain the pieces in alignment thereon and in such a way that the marking dies properly contact with the surfaces to be marked. A pair of such guides are indicated on each side of the small billet 41 below the marking wheel in Figure 1. 2 1s one of the s1de frames of my machine prov ded, w1th ournal bearings therein as illustrated; 3 is the shaft upon which the fed roller 1 is mounted and. adapted. to rotate therewith by any means (not shown). 4 is the other frame of my machine provided witha journal bearing 5 and other appurtenances as illustrated. The operating shaft of my machine is 6, which is mounted in the journal bearing 5 of the frame 1 and the other end is mounted in the journal bearing 7 of the other frame 2. Mounted on the shaft 6 is an adjustable pressure arm 8, secured thereon by the key 9. The pressure arm 8 is further provided with a set screw 10', which may be so adjusted as to properly limit the movement of said pres sure arm to accommodate the different sizes of material to be marked. 1 provide a bolt 11 having a T-head 18, over which is mounted thelower spring seat cap 15. the

lower part of which bears upon the rounded boss 12 near the end of the pressure arm 8. The belt 11 is inserted through the hole 18 and the portion of the bolt just above the head is inserted in the slot 1?, the head bearing against the lower surfaces adjacent said slot to hold it in position. On the bolt 11 1 provide a helical spring 14 and an upper spring cap 15, which is secured and adjusted to produce thepressure desired by means of the nut. 16. In order to supportithe frame 4; I provide a U-shaped base 19 as illustrated, which is mounted on any convenient foundation 'or structure. The marking wheels 31 are mounted in the holder 20, which .is provided with projecting flanges 21, having cylindrical perforations 22 in the. opposite ends thereof, the hub of this holder being 23, and the central web portion is 24, which latter is provided with latch grooves or notches25, as particularly illustrated in Figure 7. In the frame 20 and between the flanges 21 are the stamping wheelsBl, which are rotatably'mounted on pins or shafts 26. The latch 40 is pivotally mounted on the bolt 27, as viewed in Figure 1, and its other end is secured in operative position-by means of the removable pin 42.

28are the crank arms secured on the shaft 26 by the keys 30 and 29 are grooves or r cessed end portions of the crank arms to receive the latch it) which has a handle as shown. Thus each of the marking wheels 31 is revolubly mounted, as a whole, on the shaft tlwhen the latch is open, or revolubly secured to said sh aft when the latch is closed and in one of the notches 25 and the grooves 29, while the wheels are at all times rotatable-on the shafts or :pins 26. The stamping wheels 81 have hubs 32, which are rotatably mounted on the pins or short shafts 26, and each wheel also has a central disk and side portions 34: as illustrated. The side portions 34 are provided with sockets 35, the parts being secured together by the rivets 36 and 37. Vithin the sockets are mounted the marking dies 38, which may be adapted to mark any number. letter or character, and are secured in place by the set screws 39. :l-l are the billets to be marked, which in this case consist of long bars of metal which are traversed longitudinally on the feed rollers 1 underneath the marking wheels.

The operation of my machine is as follows z-The marking wheels are provided with marking dies arranged in any way desired, and as the long billets are traversed longitudinally on the feed rollers below the marking wheel, they contact with the marlv ing dies in the lower wheel. causing it to rotate and to successively indcnl or stamp the characters on the upper surface of thc billets, the necessary pressure for this bcing provided by the coil spring ll, which may be set to any desired tension or position to mark pieces of different sizes with any dcsired degree of elastic force. 1 may also produce the pressure meumatically or otherwise, although preferably in an elastic manner to compensate for irregularities in surface or motion. lVhile a few bars or billets are being so marked by the dies of the lower wheel, the dies in the upper idle whcel are changed by the operator to carry the proper characters for the next lot of billets which require different marks. .\1'tcr the last billet of one lot has passcd below the lowcr wheel and is marked with the characters carried thereby, the pin -12 is withdrawn by the operator, who then opens the latch ll) by grasping the handle. swinging it out wardly and then rotating the marking wheels about one-half turn. revolving them around the shaft (3. thus operatively locating the previously upper one in which the dics have just been changed, and it is placed in the lower position, and then he closes the latch by moving it in a reverse manncr and inserts the pin 42, and the machine is ready to proceed with a di'tl'crcnl set of marking characters. hilo this is living donc lhc marking wheel which is in the upper cnd and inopcrativc position can have the dies changed therein to be ready for the next lot of billets, wl'icreupon the operation procccds as before.

Although I have shown and described my invention in considerable detail. I do not wish to be limited to the exact and spccilio details thereof, as shown and described. but may use such modifications in, substilaitions for, or equivalents thereof as are embraced within the scope of my invention, or as pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A marking machine provided with a plurality of marking wheels, provided with resilient means for holding one of said wheels in operative position while the others are idle, whereby the marking characters thereof may be changed.

2. A. marking machine provided with a plurality of marking wheels, means forsecuring one of said wheels in operative position While the others are idle, and means for applying elastic pressure to said operating material to be marked, While the other is idle.

4;. A marking machine provided with a pair of rotatable marking wheels revolubly mounted on a shaft, means for locking and unlocking the same thereon, elastic pressure means to rotatably hold said shaft in position, whereby one of the marking wheels will contact with the material traversed thereagainst. i

5. In a marking machine, a pair of rotatable marking wheels revolubly mounted on a shaft and adapted to rotate by the traversing material to be marked, means for locking and unlocking the same thereon, and

adjustable means for rotatably holding said shaft in position.

6. A marklng machine, comprising a shaft adapted to be slightly rotated, a pair of r0 tatable marking wheels carried by a holder revolubly mounted thereon, a crank arm fixedly secured to said shaft, means for securing and releasing said crank arm and holder, and pressure means adapted to yieldingly and rotatably hold said shaft, whereby one of said wheels is held in contact with the material traversed against it. v

7. A marking machine, comprising a shaft adapted to be slightly rotated, a pair of r0 tatabllemarking wheels carried by a holder revolubly mounted thereon, a crank arm fixedly secured to said shaft, removable means for securii'ig said holder to the. crank arm,

and yielding pressure means adapted to rotatably hold said shaft, whereby one of said wheels is held in contact with the. material traversed against the same.

8. A marking machine, comprising a shaft adapted to be slightly rotated, a pair of rotatable marking wheels carried by a holder revolubly mounted thereon, a crank arm fixedly secured to said shaft, removable means for securing said holder to the crank arm, a pressure arm fixedly secured to and projecting from said shaft, a spring actuated pressure means connected to said arm adapted to yieldingly rotatably hold said shaft, whereby one of said wheels is held in contact with the material traversed against the same.

9. A marking machine, comprising a shaft, a holder rotatably mounted thereon, said holder carrying a plurality of rotatable marking wheels, means for locking and unlocking said holder with respect to the shaft, whereby one of the marking wheels may be secured in operative position while the others are idle, elastic pressure means for rotatably holding or slightly rotating said shaft, whereby the marking surface of the operative wheel is elastically held and pressed against the material traversed against it.

10. A marking machine, comprising a shaft, a holder rotatably mounted thereon, said holdercarrying a plurality of rotatable marking wheels, means for locking and unlocking said holder with respect to the shaft, whereby one of the marking wheels may be secured in operative position while the others are idle, a pressure arm fixedly secured to said shaft and projecting at an angle therefrom, an adjustable spring connected with said arm, and an adjustable stop therefor, whereby the marking surface of the operative wheel is elastically held and pressed against the material traversed against it. I y t V In witness whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

HORACE BRACKEN. 

